LC 243 
.P34 
Copy 1 






■p 



rf^.Ci 



MEMORIAL 



OF THE TEUSTEES OF 



THE PEABODY EDUCATION FUND. 



j& 



ox 




M 






MEMORIAL. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
State of Mississippi : — 



T 



HE Memorial of the Trustees of The Peabody 
Education Fund, respectfully represents : — 



That, on the 7th day of February, 1867, the late 
George Peabody gave to said Trustees the sum of 
One Million of Dollars, the income to be applied 
" for the promotion and encouragement of intellectual, 
moral, or industrial education among the young of 
the more destitute portions of the Southern and South- 
Western States of our Union " : — 

That, in addition to this gift, Mr. Peabody placed 
in the hands of said Trustees " Bonds of the State of 
Mississippi, issued to the Planters' Bank, and com- 
monly known as Planters' Bank Bonds, amounting, 
with interest, to about eleven hundred thousand dol- 
lars ; " directing said Trustees to employ the amount 
realized from these Bonds " for the purposes of this 
Trust":— . 

That, in his Letter of Trust, Mr. Peabody de- 
scribed and enlarged upon these Bonds, as follows : — 

" These Bonds were originally issued in payment 
for stock in that Bank held by the State, and amount- 
ed in all to only two millions of dollars. For many 
years the State received large dividends from that 



Bank, over and above the interest on these Bonds. 
The State paid the interest without interruption till 
1840, since which no interest has been paid, except 
a payment of about one hundred thousand dollars, 
which was found in the treasury applicable to the 
payment of the coupons, and paid by a mandamus of 
the Supreme Court. 

" The validity of these Bonds has never been ques- 
tioned, and they must not be confounded with another 
issue of bonds made by the State to the Union Bank, 
the recognition of which has been a subject of con- 
troversy with a portion of the population of Missis- 
sippi. 

" Various Acts of the Legislature, — viz., of Feb- 
ruary 28, 1842 ; February 23, 1844 ; February 16, 
1846 ; February 28, 1846 ; March 4, 1848, — and the 
highest judicial tribunal of the State, have confirmed 
their validity; and I have no doubt that, at an early 
day, such legislation will be had as to make these 
Bonds available in increasing the usefulness of the 
present Trust. 

"Mississippi, though now depressed, is rich in 
agricultural resources, and cannot long disregard the 
moral obligation resting upon her to make provision 
for their payment " : — 

That, in communicating an addition of a second 
Million of dollars to our Fund, on the 29th of June, 
1869, Mr. Peabody repeated the expression of his 
confidence that the Mississippi Bonds " must before 
many years be paid " : — 

That, under these circumstances, the Trustees can- 
not feel justified in longer postponing an appeal to 
the Legislature of Mississippi for the payment of 
these Bonds, and the accumulated interest thereon. 



It was the cherished hope and confident belief of our 
munificent Founder, to the last hour of his life, that 
this long-deferred debt would soon be provided for ; 
so that the amount might be applied, in connection 
with the two millions of available funds which he had 
placed in our hands, to " the educational needs of 
those portions of our beloved and common country 
which have suffered from the destructive ravages, and 
the not less disastrous consequences, of civil war." 

In justice, therefore, at once to the interests of the 
living and to the memory of the dead, the Trustees 
would most respectfully, but most earnestly, invoke 
such action on the part of your Honorable Bodies as 
may be necessary to accomplish the object of this 
Memorial. 

By order of the Trustees of the Peabody Educa- 
tion Fund, 

ROBERT C. WINTHROP, 

Chairman, 



GEORGE PEABODY RUSSELL, 

Secretary. 



TRUSTEES 



OF THE 



PEABODY EDUCATION FUND. 



The Board as originally appointed by Mr. Peabody con- 
sisted of the following members : — 

Hon. Robert C. Winthrop Massachusetts. 

Hon. Hamilton Fish New York. 

Right Rev. Charles P. McIlvaine . . . Ohio. 

General U. S. Grant United States Army. 

Admiral D. G. Farragut United States Navy. 

Hon. William C. Rives Virginia. 

Hon. John H. Clifford Massachusetts. 

Hon. William Aiken South Carolina. 

Hon. William M. Evarts New York. 

Hon. William A. Graham North Carolina. 

Charles Macalester, Esq Pennsylvania. 

George W. Riggs, Esq Washington. 

Samuel Wetmore, Esq New York. 

Edward A. Bradford, Esq Louisiana. 

George N. Eaton, Esq Maryland. 

George Peabody Russell, Esq Massachusetts. 

The vacancies created by the deaths of Hon. William C. 
Rives and Admiral Farragut, and by the resignation of 
Edward A. Bradford, Esq., have been filled by the elec- 
tion of 

Hon. Samuel Watson Tennessee. 

Hon. A. H. H. Stuart Virginia. 

General Richard Taylor Louisiana. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



020 783 354 A 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



020 783 354 A 



